Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 31, 2025
"You have fortified them all behind a wall of silence," pursued Britz in even voice. "But the moment I give the signal, the wall will crumble and your clients will simply fall over one another in their desire to talk." "I shall be interested to see the wizard's wand with which you're going to achieve so much!" Luckstone sneered. "I promise you that pleasure."
Lighting a fresh cigar, Britz disposed himself at his desk, and, turning toward Manning and Greig, said: "I shall now begin to enlighten you with regard to the Whitmore case." Manning and Greig settled themselves comfortably in their chairs, prepared to listen to a long recital. The extraordinary methods which Britz had pursued in the conduct of the investigation had puzzled and alarmed them.
On the final paragraph of the third sheet, the detective's eyes lingered a long while. Half a dozen times he reread the significant clause, then passed it to the chief. Manning perused it with widening orbs, finally handing the paper to Greig. The latter absorbed the contents at a glance and returned the paper to Britz. "So Mrs.
He had stage-managed Beard's release, and he also had arranged for the presence of Miss Burden and Ward. He had hoped to produce a happy climax, with Ward present as a conflicting factor, to be carried by jealousy into some foolish act that would result in open hostility between him and Beard. The happy climax, Britz succeeded in producing. But it was a most dignified, genteel, quiet climax.
"So your brother is in a bad way financially?" said Britz, more in the way of an audible comment than as a question. Evidently the subject was too painful for discussion, for she averted her face as if to hide the emotions written thereon. "Your brother expected Mr. Whitmore to rescue him?" persisted Britz. "Yes," she acknowledged. "And Mr. Whitmore's death leaves him in a sad predicament?"
"In jail," said Britz, and for the life of him he was unable to smother the smile that struggled to his lips. "Right here in the city," he added. "In the Tombs." "Well, I'll be hung!" In his astonishment, the chief could think of no adequate exclamation beyond the commonplace one which issued from his widely parted lips.
"Well, fortunately I've had one of my men trailing him since the day of the Whitmore murder, so it is unlikely he will get away," said Britz. "Have you any idea at all as to the condition of the business?" "Nothing except what I have gathered from questioning the manager of the office. I didn't learn much from him but his attitude indicated to me that the business is a complete wreck.
The two held a whispered consultation, after which the coroner returned to his desk. Britz and Ward occupied chairs at the farther end of the room, near the window. Half an hour passed, in which neither of them spoke. Presently an attendant entered and whispered to the coroner. "Bring Horace Beard over from the Tombs!" the coroner said aloud. Ward began to display signs of uneasiness.
"Pass it up to the judge and see whether he recognizes it," requested Britz. The judge returned the photograph with a negative toss of his head. "Do you recall Arthur Travis?" asked Britz of the clerk. A wave of recollection instantly swept across the clerk's mind. "Sure," he replied. "Pleaded guilty to attempted post office robbery. Was sent away for two years and half.
Momentarily they expected to hear him acknowledge that he had erred in his accusations and to see him abandon his efforts to fix the crime on Mrs. Collins, Collins, Ward and Beard. But with each new setback Britz became all the more determined. And now he favored Luckstone with an exultant gleam that carried no hope of compromise. "You realize the significance of the identification, don't you?"
Word Of The Day
Others Looking